Legal cases of former Bankstown, Sydney nurses charged over antisemitic video return to court
Ahmad Rashad Nadir, 27, and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, 26, were stood down from their jobs at Bankstown Hospital on February 12 after a video emerged of the pair allegedly making threats against Israeli patients.
The pair, who are both on conditional bail, are excused from appearing in person when their cases are briefly mentioned in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court from 9.30am.
The video, which went viral in February, showed Mr Nadir and Ms Lebdeh wearing nursing uniforms as they spoke to Jewish content creator Max Veifer through an online chat room called Chatruletka, which randomly connects users.
In the clip, Ms Lebedh allegedly bragged about refusing to treat Israeli patients at the hospital and threatened to kill them.
Mr Nadir allegedly said he had sent Israeli patients to 'Jahannam', which means hell in Arabic.
The video was widely circulated online after it was shared to social media by Mr Veifer, sparking an investigation by health authorities and police.
On February 25, Ms Lebdeh was arrested and charged with three Commonwealth offences including threatening violence to a group, using a carriage service to threaten to kill, and using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend.
Mr Nadir was arrested on March 4 and charged with a Commonwealth offence of using a carriage service to menace, harass, offend or threaten.
He was also charged with possessing a prohibited drug, which was allegedly found inside his locker at Bankstown Hospital.
Dramatic scenes unfolded outside Sydney's Downing Centre in March when the two former nurses appeared in court for the first time since their arrests.
Mr Nadir's lawyer Zemarai Khatiz said his client will challenge the charges against him on the grounds of the video being taken without his consent.
"My client will be pleading not guilty to the charges. He will be defending the matter on legal and technical grounds," Mr Khatiz told reporters.
"The video that was captured and recorded, was done without the consent of my client, without his knowledge. And we'll argue for that to be excluded."
Meanwhile, Ms Lebdeh was rushed out of the courthouse while being shielded by an entourage of men in black hoodies before she was whisked away in a waiting black car.
Mr Nadir has previously apologised for his remarks in the video through a legal representative who said the former nurse does not 'protect what he has done or hide from it'.
A family member of Ms Lebdeh, who identified himself as her uncle, previously told the media she was sorry for her comments.
"She will come out and make a statement when she's ready, but you can't talk to her now because she's having a panic attack, an anxiety attack," he told The Australian at the time.
On February 13, Federal Health Minister Mark Butler confirmed the Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales had suspended Mr Nadir and Ms Lebdeh's nursing registrations.
This means they are currently banned from practising nursing anywhere in Australia.
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